Mark Wetherell
I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychobiology & Health Psychology and Postgraduate Programme Leader for Health Psychology in the Department of Psychology. I am also the Associate Director of the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research and a member of the Health in Action Research Group where I lead the stress research theme.
Previously I have held post-doctoral positions at the Medical Research Council, Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience & Endocrinology and the Departments of Primary Care and Social Medicine at Bristol University.
My research concerns the psychobiological pathways by which psychological (e.g., stress) and behavioural (e.g., illicit drug use) factors can lead to deleterious states of health, well-being and performance in a range of clinical and healthy populations. This research involves the development of novel, ecologically valid techniques, for assessing the basal functioning and activation of psychobiological pathways in ambulatory and laboratory settings, for example, assessment of indices of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis such as the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) and diurnal decline in relation to psychosocial factors and health outcomes. More recently, My work has involved the combination of ambulatory and laboratory techniques, for example assessing the effects of an acute stressor on HPA reactivity in relation to basal HPA functioning. This work typically involves assessments over several days and allows for the evaluation of anticipation and recovery from expected and unexpected stressful events.
I have developed a cognitively demanding stressor representative of real-life environments that require users to attend and respond to several stimuli simultaneously (the Multi-tasking Framework) and a non-invasive physiological stressor (35% CO2 Stress Test). The Framework is used in a variety of projects exploring individual differences in psychobiological stress reactivity and potential anxiolytics and the CO2 test has been used to assess stress mechanisms in a range of healthy and clinical populations. I am currently involved in a range of projects involving the Multi-tasking Framework and I'm developing several paradigms that can be used to model different types of real-life stress, for example the effects of critical social evaluation in the laboratory.
I am Director of Studies for a PhD assessing the effects of stress on psychoneuroendocrine and immune parameters (Brian Lovell). This programme is assessing the impact of stress on physiological and psychological functioning and ill-health in healthy young adults and in caregivers of children with autism and ADHD, who are at greater risk of ill-health due to the high levels of psychological distress associated with their caregiver role. I am also involved in the supervisory teams of PhD students within the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research assessing psychoneuroendocrine parameters in insomnia and the role of hyperarousal in the development of insomnia and students in the Centre for Sports, Exercise & Wellbeing assessing the role of cytokines in cognitive fatigue and the psychophysiological demands of firefighting
I am currently involved in a number of collaborative projects concerning psychoneuroendocrine effects of MDMA use (Dr Cathy Montgomery, Liverpool John Moores University, Professor Andrew Scholey, Brain Sciences Institute, BSI), Swinburne, Melbourne), and potential compounds that may reduce the deleterious impact of stress (Professor Andrew Scholey at the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology)
Following a recent sabbatical (2010) I have been awarded an Adjunct Research Fellowship at the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology (previously the Brain Sciences Institute).
Address: Department of Psychology
Northumbria University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8ST
Previously I have held post-doctoral positions at the Medical Research Council, Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience & Endocrinology and the Departments of Primary Care and Social Medicine at Bristol University.
My research concerns the psychobiological pathways by which psychological (e.g., stress) and behavioural (e.g., illicit drug use) factors can lead to deleterious states of health, well-being and performance in a range of clinical and healthy populations. This research involves the development of novel, ecologically valid techniques, for assessing the basal functioning and activation of psychobiological pathways in ambulatory and laboratory settings, for example, assessment of indices of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis such as the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) and diurnal decline in relation to psychosocial factors and health outcomes. More recently, My work has involved the combination of ambulatory and laboratory techniques, for example assessing the effects of an acute stressor on HPA reactivity in relation to basal HPA functioning. This work typically involves assessments over several days and allows for the evaluation of anticipation and recovery from expected and unexpected stressful events.
I have developed a cognitively demanding stressor representative of real-life environments that require users to attend and respond to several stimuli simultaneously (the Multi-tasking Framework) and a non-invasive physiological stressor (35% CO2 Stress Test). The Framework is used in a variety of projects exploring individual differences in psychobiological stress reactivity and potential anxiolytics and the CO2 test has been used to assess stress mechanisms in a range of healthy and clinical populations. I am currently involved in a range of projects involving the Multi-tasking Framework and I'm developing several paradigms that can be used to model different types of real-life stress, for example the effects of critical social evaluation in the laboratory.
I am Director of Studies for a PhD assessing the effects of stress on psychoneuroendocrine and immune parameters (Brian Lovell). This programme is assessing the impact of stress on physiological and psychological functioning and ill-health in healthy young adults and in caregivers of children with autism and ADHD, who are at greater risk of ill-health due to the high levels of psychological distress associated with their caregiver role. I am also involved in the supervisory teams of PhD students within the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research assessing psychoneuroendocrine parameters in insomnia and the role of hyperarousal in the development of insomnia and students in the Centre for Sports, Exercise & Wellbeing assessing the role of cytokines in cognitive fatigue and the psychophysiological demands of firefighting
I am currently involved in a number of collaborative projects concerning psychoneuroendocrine effects of MDMA use (Dr Cathy Montgomery, Liverpool John Moores University, Professor Andrew Scholey, Brain Sciences Institute, BSI), Swinburne, Melbourne), and potential compounds that may reduce the deleterious impact of stress (Professor Andrew Scholey at the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology)
Following a recent sabbatical (2010) I have been awarded an Adjunct Research Fellowship at the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology (previously the Brain Sciences Institute).
Address: Department of Psychology
Northumbria University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8ST
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